(Almost) around the world on Cathay
 

I just completed a 12-days-trip over Easter Holiday, mainly travelling on Cathay Pacific flights. The routing was as follows: ZRH - LHR - HKG - BKK - HKG - YVR - JFK - BOS - JFK - YVR - HKG - BKK - HKG - ZRH. I travelled in all four cabins. Here are some observations and experiences I would like to share with the CX-fan community in this forum:

Lounges: Of all the lounges I have visited along the route the one in Vancouver emerged to be my favourite one. I liked its cosy and relaxing atmosphere, something I missed in the Hongkong facilities. I found the views on the tarmac breathtaking, much better than in Hongkong or London. I felt especially impressed with the high ceilings in the shower suites. Space is certainly not an issue at Vancouver airport. The lounge crew on duty was cheerful, helpful and friendly. The food and drinks selection was pretty average though but I did not mind as I was looking foward to my first supper in First Class. While back in Hongkong I also took the opportunity to try out the Wing and Pier First Class Lounges - it was my first time that I had access to these facilities. In comparsion to the Day Suites at the Pier I found The Cabanas in the Wing a much nicer place to strech out after a 13,5 hours ride in the back of the aircraft. Food and service in both places were top-notch though. Third-party lounges: For an aviation-lover as I am I felt very comfortable at the Aspire lounge at Zurich-Airport's Terminal E too. There is an outdoor terrace with splendid views on the tarmac and the runways. As it was a beautiful day I arrived three hours before the departure of my connecting flight on BA into Heathrow, got some tan on my pale face and inhaled some "fresh" air before the first longhaul-round down to Bangkok. The American Flagship Lounge in New York impressed me by its five-star Manhattan-style restaurant-interior, its surprisingly tasty buffet and the wide selection of hard-to-find softdrink brands.

Inflight and ground services: While the "hardware" was very consistent all the way, the "software" varied. I had the pleasure to fly with the same Hongkong-based crew and the same Vancouver-based crew twice. This was a coincidence though. While the Vancouver-based crew seemed to be very approachable, the Hongkong-based crew was a little bit more reserved but highly professional. The same can be said for the services on ground. My praise goes especially to the reception-crews at the Hongkong lounges and the check-in crews in Bangkok. Both did a tremendous job. A the latter port I met the same agent for the fourth or fifth time already. The only let-down was that my bags did not show up first at the belt in New York although they were labelled accordingly. But this was not CX's fault. While I received personal greetings by the ISM or purser on all the four shorthauls, this was not standard on the longhauls although one would think that there is more time available for such an extra. Nevertheless my special requests concerning snacks and drinks in-between - I usually skip dinner and breakfast - were fulfilled without any hesitation. Last but not least I arrived at home again in a suprisingly good shape. Would I have done this trip on another airline? Probably not.

Thanks for sharing, I just had similar travel route as yours, on 3 different cabinm Y+, J and F, I'd say that expect on F, which is LAX-HKG, all other sections cabin crew are quite reserved, but proffesional.
My route is : DUS-HKG-WUH-HKG-LAX-LAS-LAX-HKG-WUH-HKG-DUS, sure the distance would be more than travel around the world, and yours is even heavier loading.

Would I have done similar trip on another airline? maybe not, except JL